In July of 2007, Alex Yontz was on top of the Late Model Stock Car world with a triumphant and dominating victory in the UARA-Stars event at Bristol Motor Speedway. Just a few months prior, Yontz had won another prestigious LMSC event, Martinsville Speedway’s Bailey’s 300. With those two victories, plus more UARA victories during the 2007 season, Yontz was on a hot streak that few in the short track ranks in the Southeast had ever seen before.

But since that Bristol win last season, Yontz had fallen upon a dry spell. While he had not forgotten the way to victory lane, the path there seemed to have hazards everywhere he turned. Yontz was able to salvage several top-10 finishes out of the early part of 2008, but bad luck still kept Yontz’s #55 out of victory lane. But all the while, Yontz and his family-backed #55 team never stopped digging.

All the hard work finally paid off for Yontz in a big way on Saturday, July 5th. Yontz started on the outside pole for the Thompson Metals 150 at Bristol Motor Speedway, took the lead from the drop of the green flag and had to stave off the challenges of fellow UARA young gun Jake Crum and veteran Jamey Caudill to clinch his second-career UARA victory at the historic Bristol half-mile.

Yontz’s #55 was flawless throughout the Thompson Metals 150 event, but not many inside the UARA pit area knew it until the green flag flew. The Yontz team knew they had a stout racecar and did not want to tip their hand until it was time to show their cards in the race.

“We were holding back a little bit in practice,” added Yontz. “We’re back to a family deal this year, so we were trying to save a little money in practice and didn’t put on tires. We knew we had a real good car and we just wanted to show it in the race.”

Once the green flew, it didn’t take long for Yontz to flex his muscle. The 21-year-old rocketed out into the lead that he held until lap 90, when Crum wrestled the lead away. After only about 30 laps of following in second, it was time for Yontz to get back into the top spot, taking the lead for the final time on lap 121. From there, Crum put the pressure on Yontz, but a flat tire for Crum on lap 129 allowed Yontz to check out down the stretch.

“Jake had a really strong car. I hate that he had bad luck, and I didn’t want for it to happen like that. We had a good run going with him, and it was a lot of fun.”

With one challenger out of the way, the only thing left for Yontz to overcome was the pressure of series veteran Jamey Caudill and Richard Boswell on a restart with only 16 laps remaining. Caudill pressured Yontz as best he could in the final laps, but the young Walnut Cove, NC native was not going to be denied victory.

“You’ve got those veterans beating on you from behind like that; it was a tough one tonight. We really had to work for it, but that’s what makes it fun.”

The second victory at Bristol not only ended Yontz’s victory drought, but also solidified the young racer as the driver to beat every time UARA visits Bristol.

“I just owe a lot to the crew for this,” added Yontz. “We really like this place and we seem to get along well with it. We didn’t have to work nearly as hard for the first one as we had to tonight. After the year we’ve had, this boosts not just me, but the whole crew up. It’s just great.”

Next up for Yontz is a UARA-Stars LMSC event at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, VA, on July 19th.

For more information on Alex Yontz, contact Elgin Traylor at (704) 788-2134 x 4 and be sure to check out AlexYontz.net.